Rice University Computer Science Programs

Located in Houston, Texas, Rice University is a private not-for-profit institution. Houston is a great location for students who prefer city over country life.

Rice University Rankings

Rice is ranked #3 out of 758 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2023 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation! It is also ranked #1 out of 43 schools in Texas.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Rice has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#3	Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Computer Science Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#4	Best Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Rice.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Computer Information Systems Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#59	Most Popular Computer Information Systems Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Rice has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#1	Highest Paid Computer & Information Sciences Graduates	College Factual
#1	Highest Paid Computer Information Systems Graduates	College Factual
#3	Best Schools	Grad Degree
#7	Best Computer Information Systems Schools	College Factual
#7	Best General Computer & Information Sciences Schools	College Factual
#12	Best Computer & Information Sciences Schools	College Factual

Where Is Rice University?

Contact details for Rice are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	6100 S Main St, Houston, TX 77005-1827
Phone:	713-348-0000
Website:	www.rice.edu
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/RiceUniversity
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/RiceUniversity

How Do I Get Into Rice?

You can apply to Rice online at: futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Apply.asp

Admission Requirements for Rice

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	considered but not required
High School Rank	considered but not required
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	required
SAT or ACT Scores	considered but not required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Rice?

With an acceptance rate of 11%, Rice is one of the most selective schools in the country. If the admissions department requests additional materials, be sure to submit them promptly. This could be a sign that you're on the border line of being accepted or denied.

Approximately 50% of accepted students are men and 50% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 11%, and the acceptance rate for women is 11%.

Average Test Scores

About 59% of students accepted to Rice submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 710 and 770. Math scores were between 750 and 800.

Rice received ACT scores from 41% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 34 and 36. Math scores were between 32 and 35. Composite scores were between 34 and 36.

Can I Afford Rice University?

The overall average net price of Rice is $45,435. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Rice, approximately 10% of students took out student loans averaging $8,329 a year. That adds up to $33,316 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Rice is 0.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Rice University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 4,076 undergraduate students at Rice, with 3,960 being full-time and 116 being part-time.

There are also 3,567 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 3,960 full-time undergraduates at Rice, 52% are male and 48% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Rice University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,088
Black or African American	305
Hispanic or Latino	642
White	1,213
International Students	469
Other Races/Ethnicities	243

Geographic Diversity

Texas students aren't the only ones who study at Rice University. At this time, 42 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 90 countries are represented at Rice. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.

Online Learning at Rice University

In 2019-2020, 7,101 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Rice has changed over the last few years.

Online Growth Rankings of Rice

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Rice University was 1,184.8%. This is the #49 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Rice regardless of major.

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Rice University Computer Science Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
General Computer & Information Sciences	149	128	16	293
TOTAL	149	128	16	293

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Anatol Stefanowitsch under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.